Waiqar the Undying arrives in Battlelore, 2nd Ed.

Waiqar !

Looks pretty sweet. Sounds like Bone Horrors are the equivalent of Rune Golems for the Daqan and that Reanimates can regenerate (probably on helmet rolls.) With only 3 units of Reanimates in the box (plus more in the other box), plus the way the BL system works, I find it hard to believe that Necromancers will just generate new units of them as happens in Runewars. Barghests apparently leave an effect on enemies that causes damage when they try to rout opponents (you can see the "no flag" token) but only one unit in the box is annoying. The Banshee has some cool powers:
(Helmet): Cause a retreat for each enemy units adjacent to this unit.
(Lore)Cursed: If this unit has suffered 1 or more damage, gain 2(?) lore.
Unwavering Aura: Friendly units adjacent to this unit are supported.

Blight from Skeleton Archers sounds like poison. Am assuming that Blight from the Barrow Worm's breath works the same way and Harvesting lore from destroyed opponents sounds like a way to really encourage dynamic play. That's a much cooler mini for the Death Knights (Black Knights in Runewars and Rune Age); kind of an undead Wild Hunt. Sounds like single sword results don't affect them. Wraiths being only hit by magical attacks is reminiscent of Spirit Hosts in Warhammer, which were always majorly annoying and could usually only be killed by morale/crumbling. I like that they're continuing the terrain aspect of the game, too, so that seeding the ground with favorable terrain becomes a viable strategy in many scenarios.

This is pretty cool. The Undead faction has been the "great white buffalo" of BattleLore since 1st edition. Very cool to see FFG finally come out with them. Minis look great and it seems like they have some great abilities. Glad that this game is still alive and getting some good support.

I feel like Battlelore Terrinoth really struggles to get product momentum behind itself...

I think it did since release. People were on the BGG boards asking for the other two factions within a couple months, even though the replay value of the two armies in the main set was really high. A friend and I have played dozens of games and there are still interesting things that happen based on lists and scenarios. But now, with the two Uthuk and Daqan expansions released, the three neutral units (giant, dragon, razorwings) on the boat, and Waiqar in 3rd quarter of this year, there's a lot emerging for this game. I'm kind of hoping that some of it bounces back into Runewars and Rune Age, since I enjoy the former (although I still find some of it clunky for a DoaM) and love the latter (it's the most interesting and player-interactive deckbuilder I've ever played.)

After what seemed like a long drought, the rain is quickly becoming a downpour for Battlelore 2ed. Really happy to see BL2 getting some love from FFG and looking forward to picking up these expansions later in the year. At the moment, any expansion releases for BL2 are autobuy territory for me. Give me some more neutrals and a fourth faction - I'm in! Great game.

I can't even imagine how high the level of excitement would be for a game like this if people hadn't played all the iterations of this system. More power to Borg for squeezing so many games out of it, but the mind boggles at just how big a single fantasy series like this would have been as one of only 2-3 iterations of the system. That said, I have read this is THE iteration to get---would you guys agree? I ended up sending away c+c ancients, which I like but didn't love, and thinking there was more in the engine. Particularly adding an effective army building component...

Seems to be for me. I didn't play 1st Ed. but this game has had ridiculous replayability for only having two armies. I just picked up the expansions for the Daqan and Uthuk today and I'm dying to get some games in with the new stuff. The new Lore cards are awesome. The scenairo builder on FFG's website has also contributed a bit. With Waiqar and the neutrals arriving in the next few months, this looks like the place to be for 2-player wargames.

What they should really aim for is something that has custom armies and a scenario building to draw away minis people who are disengaged from what a hassle that hobby is... I know that's how I got into gaming, via Warhammer/White Dwarf but I didn't have the skills or energy to regularly play. Sounds like they're doing it right.

I actually haven't played many of the C&C iterations and wasn't a huge fan of the system overall when the earlier iterations took off. I played someone else's copy of the original Battlelore a couple of times, but didn't like it enough to pick up my own copy. Battlelore 2ed came along when I was looking for a less complex two-player wargame and it fit the bill perfectly. It really came down to timing more than anything. I think I read somewhere that Borg isn't too enamoured with what FFG has done with Battlelore. If that's true, then that may be the difference between what I like about BL2 and the rest of the C&C line. That is to say, for me, FFG have fixed some of the problems I had with the earlier iterations of C&C.

I always thought tying hits to the color of icons on the die was a poor idea that limited options---glad to see they changed that.

So how do the endgame victory conditions/objectives work out in this? I absolutely hated C&C:A's stunningly anticlimactic approach. I'm also curious about playtime.

Also, how does this handle leaders?

Totally changed from what I just looked at (someone who has played can fill me in). There are objectives you get VP for holding and I think some faction specific VP generators.

I would heartily recommend BL2 even though I'm holding on to my 1st ed. I played with a friend who owns it and it's a blast. Props to FFG if they can bring the system to a full fantasy system with at least 4 races.

I'm surprised to see they haven't push any new units for the old factions out yet... I guess it's better that they get the 4 factions established first.

The first two expansions added to the two existing factions in the base game. They have just hit store shelves. FFG have also announced three neutral unit packs (great dragon, mountain giant and razorwings) and now two more expansion packs with which a third faction (undead) can be added to the game.

Yes, you're right about the victory conditions Gary. The scenarios in the base game usually contain two locations on each side of the battlefield (so four in total) where you place victory point markers and you gain victory points each round for holding these locations. In addition, each side will have another faction specific method of earning victory points (so far, these are usually based around occupying hexes with specific units or preventing your opponent from occupying hexes). First side to 16 VP wins. I can't remember how BL1 victory conditions worked exactly, but I like how BL2 works. There's usually no time for turtling.

Hex, there aren't any specific rules for leaders from memory. I play against my daughter and our games go from 1-2 hours.